1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming unit for forming an image on a photoconductor, which contains at least one process device, such as a charger, a developing device, a cleaner and a quencher. The process device forms a toner image on the photoconductor. In addition, the present invention further relates to an image forming apparatus including a photoconductor and at least two image forming units mentioned above which are arranged in parallel in the image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
The image forming apparatus mentioned above, which constitutes a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, a multifunctional machine, etc. is a known technology as disclosed in, for example, published unexamined Japanese patent application No. 8-36346. In these image forming apparatuses where each image forming unit is set close to or in contact with each other, it is difficult to remove any one of the image forming units since there is not enough space for fingers between the image forming units.
To address this problem, it is possible to attach a handle to the unit case of each image forming unit and pull out the image forming unit with the handle. For example, a handle can be attached to the upper wall of each image forming unit such that the handle protrudes upward from the upper wall. With this handle, the image forming unit can be lifted upward. Therefore, with this structure, it is easy to detach an image forming unit even when each image forming unit is set close to or in contact with another image forming unit.
However, the handle attached to the unit case significantly protrudes from the unit case. Therefore, when each image forming unit with a handle is arranged in the image forming apparatus, these image forming units occupy a larger large space in the image forming apparatus. Naturally, it is inevitable that the image forming apparatus becomes larger.
Therefore, a need exists for an image forming unit which can be easily detached from an image forming apparatus without occupying a large space therein.